M. G. Higgins

This is a unique book in that it focuses on bisexuality, a concept not covered as often in the still emerging teen LGBTQ genre. The main character is a male jock and begins to develop feelings for a young man in his art class. This is frightening for him, especially since he has a long time girlfriend that he's crazy about.

This is not a happily ever after romance, but it is a decent snapshot of the scary roller coaster ride that adolescent sexuality can be. One of the things I was really show more impressed by was that a character in the books discusses that sexuality, like most biological traits, falls on a spectrum. Almost no one is 100% "straight". show less

She's Got Books on Her Mind

Faith doesn't have the prospects the other girls in her soccer team have. She isn't very wealthy what wither her mom working night shifts to make ends meet without anyone to help her with her four children, well there is always Faith. Faith has been designated as her sibling's babysitter so her mom has some time to get some sleep between her shifts at the hospital. In exchange she gets to play soccer.

Faith is Faith Patel which means she's Indian which makes me oh show more so happy because hello! How many female Indian main characters have you met reading YA? The only problem is that I wish the book cover reflected her. Don't get me wrong, the girl on the book cover is very "I am woman. Hear me roar." but it would be nice if I can actually see Faith. Faith feels stressed out and like she's got the short end of the stick. Having to take care of your younger siblings - not fun. She's missed a lot of homework too but she doesn't even think she will be able to go to college so why bother?

Although Faith may sound annoyed that she has to take care of her siblings when something happens to one of them she shows a very caring side of her. Faith's very quiet so other on her soccer team may think she thinks she doesn't like them or maybe that she's even better than them. I don't know why the soccer team does this especially Caitlyn because have you never met a reserved person before? They are everywhere. You need to think about where that person's coming from. Caitlyn was her real trouble throughout the story. She would make snide remarks to her face. She's the one who got it in Faith's head that her coach, Coach Berg, liked her because he was letting her try out for another position on the team. When Faith started thinking that her coach liked her I couldn't help to laugh out loud. It was just so ridiculously funny. I mean this all in a good way. It's kind of sad that when someone was actually listening to her she felt that they must like her in a romantic way. It was like no one else had ever cared to bother to learn how she was feeling.

The book may have been just a little over one hundred pages but I really got a sense of who Faith is and what her story was telling me. I liked that it was just about a regular girl and like regular girls we tend to fall in love easily. I also liked it was about soccer which I played way back when. I wasn't good but it was nice to read about the action on the field. It made me reminisce. I don't know why but I think of this as a very "clean" book, one where girls can use to learn lessons from. I've read about the other Counterattack series and their summaries sound like that. I actually don't mind. They're very fun; light reads that I could see myself enjoying like I did with Offside. show less

Part of the Gravel Road series. Brett is a football player at Elkhead High, one of the most popular guys in school, and he plans on spending the rest of his life with his beautiful girlfriend Jillia. Brett’s life has its problems: his mother passed away and his father, a fisherman, struggles to support Brett and his sister, but this is nothing Brett can’t handle until he finds himself fantasizing about Zach from his art class. Brett struggles to control his feelings before turning to show more Nate, an openly gay classmate who he has bullied in the past, in order to understand his own confused sexuality. Despite some setbacks, Brett is able to take positive steps to come to terms with his sexual identity, come out to his father, and seek the help of positive role models. Introduces hi-lo readers to the spectrum of sexual identity and will be a relatable story for LGBTQ teens as told from Brett’s perspective. The portrayal of Brett as a character with traditionally masculine traits and interests will also help readers understand that sexuality is not bound by these characteristics. Recommended. Ages 14-18. show less

Bi-Normal is a fantastic contemporary novel perfect for reluctant readers or high school students reading at a low level. That is, as long as they are comfortable with the topic of sexual orientation. While not graphic or explicit in any way, Bi-Normal explores in depth the confusion and anxiety that results from questioning your sexuality. The narrative is so realistic and relatable, the dialogue is interesting, the protagonist’s dilemmas are intense. This all makes the book a page-turner show more of a high school drama. I would highly recommend it to teens that are confused about their sexuality or boys looking for a realistic, dramatic story. show less